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Welcome to the weekly newsletter of the Michigan Energy Innovation Business Council (Michigan EIBC), the business voice for advanced energy in Michigan. Here’s what’s new this week:
Source: Nick King, Lansing State Journal
Whitmer Discusses Clean Energy Wins, Future Proposals in State of the State
In her State of the State address delivered Wednesday, Gov. Whitmer hailed the “historic clean energy package” she signed into law, saying it will lower the cost of household utilities by an average of $145 a year and “create thousands of good-paying jobs, backed by the strongest labor standards in the country.”
The governor also laid out a number of her 2024 proposals including a new vehicle rebate that would be higher for EVs than for other vehicles, and steps to boost Michigan’s advanced energy “manufacturing renaissance.”
Whitmer’s proposed “Michigan Vehicle Rebate” would offer a $1,000 rebate to any buyer of a new vehicle, but the rebate would increase to $2,000 if the vehicle is electric and increase to $2,500 if assembled by a union. “With the MI Vehicle Rebate we can lower costs and support the ongoing transition to an all-electric, union-made future,” Whitmer said in the speech.
Another policy proposal in the governor’s speech is the creation of a tax credit for research and development. Michigan is one of the few states without an R&D tax credit, and creating one would “unleash innovation while lowering costs for businesses.”
She mentioned this tax credit in the context of steps needed to “upgrade our economic development toolkit” so Michigan can attract even more businesses like the manufacturers that have recently decided to build projects here. She cited specific examples of advanced energy manufacturing projects, including Nel Hydrogen’s project to build an electrolyzer “gigafactory” in Plymouth and an R&D hub in Novi from Scout Motors, a company that is designing off-road-capable EVs.
Michigan EIBC and Advanced Energy United: Voters Should Reject Anti-Siting-Law Ballot Initiative
We recently reported how Michigan has made it a priority in 2024 to defend new laws to support property rights and enable renewable energy development against a misguided effort to roll back the law.
Last week the Michigan Board of State Canvassers approved the language for a proposed ballot initiative to begin to gather signatures. To appear on the November 2024 ballot, the initiative would have to gather more than 350,000 valid signatures by May 29.
In response, Michigan EIBC and Advanced Energy United released a statement explaining why this ballot initiative should be rejected in order to preserve job creation and protect farmer income.
“By moving toward clean energy and energy storage, Michigan consumers and businesses will see lower utility bills and a more reliable and resilient electric grid,” Michigan EIBC President Laura Sherman said in the statement. “The law also retains local input in the build-out of clean energy across Michigan, while providing a pathway for larger projects to go through the state for approval.”
“This ballot proposal eliminates the community benefit element of $2,000 per megawatt of capacity to each participating local municipality, harming communities and depriving them of much-needed tax revenues that support fire and police, schools, roads, and more vital services. Coupled with historic federal investments in clean energy, now is the time to move forward, not backward,” Advanced Energy United Managing Director Trish Demeter said in the statement.
Home Energy Rebate Convening Scheduled for Feb. 21
The state of Michigan is going to be making historic investments in household energy efficiency through the Inflation Reduction Act’s Home Energy Rebate Program. Join Michigan EIBC and the Michigan Department of Environment Great Lakes and Energy for lunch, networking, and a public convening discussing state implementation of this program. This convening will take place at UA Local 190 Union Hall in Ann Arbor on Feb. 21.
New Members
Enchanted Rock is a microgrid developer and operator over 621MW of dispatchable generation capacity deployed across Texas, California, Virginia, Mississippi, and Louisiana. Our generation technology has been certified to meet the ultra-low California Air Resources Board Distributed Generation emissions levels, the cleanest reciprocating engine standard in the nation. When supplied by renewable natural gas, we provide net-zero or net-negative carbon operations for both customer resiliency and grid services. Our assets strengthen the grid and protect critical community services, like hospitals, water facilities, nursing homes, and grocery stores, and other critical infrastructure.
Malta Inc.
Malta is a privately held company that was spun out from X (Alphabet’s “Moonshot Factory,” formerly known as Google X) in 2018 and offers a long-duration pumped heat energy storage (PHES) system, providing synchronous energy storage capacity from 8 hours to 8 days or longer. Malta’s PHES system consists of commercially-available and proven technologies and equipment, with the innovation coming from the integration of these components to offer a immediately scalable, low-risk, and flexibly sitable LDES solution.
Renewing Members
Ecotelligent Homes is an award-winning and licensed home performance contractor that specializes in identifying the root cause of your home’s unique comfort, and indoor air quality concerns. We install customized energy efficiency improvements to solve your problem. If you’re looking for an energy efficiency contractor in Metro Detroit, we can improve your home’s energy usage, insulation, and heating and cooling. Our energy audits will show you what needs to be done so you can be on your way to a more comfortable home that helps preserve natural resources.
EDP Renewables North America LLC (EDPR NA), its affiliates, and its subsidiaries develop, construct, own, and operate wind farms and solar parks throughout North America. Headquartered in Houston, Texas, with 58 wind farms, nine solar parks, and seven regional offices across North America, EDPR NA has developed more than 8,800 megawatts (MW) and operates more than 8,200 MW of onshore utility-scale renewable energy projects. With more than 950 employees, EDPR NA’s highly qualified team has a proven capacity to execute projects across the continent.
Invenergy is North America’s largest independent, privately held renewable energy provider. The Company develops, owns and operates large-scale renewable and other clean energy generation and storage facilities in North America, Latin America, Japan and Europe. Invenergy is headquartered in Chicago, Illinois. In Michigan, Invenergy developed and constructed the 133-turbine Gratiot County Wind project and has several additional projects under advanced development.
By providing discerning and proactive legal advice, Warner Norcross + Judd LLP builds a better partnership with our clients. An AmLaw 200 firm, we’re one of Michigan’s largest law firms focused on providing the best legal solutions and exceptional client service to organizations throughout the world. Connect with us on wnj.com, LinkedIn, Twitter or Facebook.
Michigan Energy News
- The U.S. Advanced Battery Consortium based in Southfield receives a $60 million grant from the U.S. Department of Energy for research and development into “EV batteries with enhanced performance; EV batteries using earth-abundant and domestically available battery materials; light-, medium-, and heavy-duty vehicle batteries; and more cost-efficient battery recycling processes,” according to DOE.
- Australian company Fortescue plans to build a “major hub” for production of “automotive and heavy industry batteries, hydrogen generators, fast chargers, and electrolyzers” in the city of Detroit, Governor Whitmer announces.
- There’s no conceivable way to reach our clean energy goals without a streamlined process for wind and solar projects, Rep. Abraham Aiyash says to the Detroit Free Press.
- The U.S. Department of Agriculture approves $1.7 million in Rural Energy for America Program grants for several West Michigan farms to make upgrades like installing solar panels.
- Michigan senators are considering increasing fees for gas pipeline safety violations.
National Energy News
- Factors like electrification of transportation and buildings and more data centers will drive electricity demand up by 1.5% per year from 2024 through 2026, the U.S. Energy Information Administration projects.
- The U.S. Department of Treasury releases guidance clarifying what parts of the country can access tax credits for EV charger installations based on restrictions that limit credits to low-income and non-urban census tracts.\
- The Edwards and Sanborn solar-plus-storage “megaproject,” sprawling across 4,600 acres, comes online in the Mojave Desert.
- New Jersey regulators approve offshore wind solicitations for two projects totaling 3.7 GE in capacity.
- Xcel Energy proposes making a time-of-use rate the default for its Minnesota customers.
Job Board
Attention Michigan EIBC members: if you have a job announcement you would like in the newsletter, please send a paragraph describing the position and a link to apply to Matt Bandyk at matt@mieibc.org. Please include in the email a specific end date for the job posting.
Advanced Energy United
Policy Director – Decision Maker Education & Engagement – Central. Location: Remote.
Advanced Energy United is currently seeking an experienced, strategic and innovative Director to focus on decision maker education and engagement in central states. The Director will work with other United team members to develop and implement educational strategies designed to achieve policy successes at the state level that will expand markets for the advanced energy industry and accelerate the U.S. transition to 100% clean energy.
Policy Director – Decision Maker Education & Engagement – West. Location: Remote.
Advanced Energy United is currently seeking an experienced, strategic and innovative Director to focus on decision maker education and engagement in western states. The Director will work with other United team members to develop and implement educational strategies designed to achieve policy successes at the state level that will expand markets for the advanced energy industry and accelerate the U.S. transition to 100% clean energy.
Elevate
Director, Community Programs (MI).
The Director, Community Programs leads and manages Elevate’s Community Programs team in Michigan. The Director is responsible for implementing programs in partnership with community organizations, municipalities, and state agencies related to affordable housing and resilient communities, with an emphasis on building decarbonization – energy and water efficiency, electrification, and renewable energy. The Director, Community Programs collaborates with departments across the organization as well as with key partner organizations. The Director leads strategic planning, resourcing and process improvement on this fast-growing team.
Michigan and National Energy Events
The Consumers Energy Clean Energy Workforce Training Program is running an “Upskilled” Program on Feb. 12 at Jackson Community College. The company is seeking contractors in Jackson and the surrounding areas who have a need for their employees or themselves to be upskilled. Applications for the 2024 Upskilled Program are due Feb. 2.
Michigan EIBC and Michigan EGLE’s Home Energy Rebate Convening is scheduled for Feb. 21 in Ann Arbor. Register here.
Opportunities
Invest In Our Future is hiring for several positions, including a Program Manager with regional connections in the Midwest.
The Gerald R. Ford International Airport has posted a request for qualifications (RFQ) to design and install an approximately 100-kW solar PV and battery system. The deadline for submissions is Jan. 31.
The City of Detroit is soliciting proposals from qualified solar providers to design, engineer, build, operate, maintain, and decommission installations of ground-mount solar PV projects. Proposals are due Feb. 15.
The MPSC has released a request for proposals for a $21.3 million renewable energy and electrification infrastructure enhancement and development grant program. Applications are due Feb. 21.
The U.S. Department of Energy’s Industrial Efficiency and Decarbonization Office has announced a $38 million funding opportunity focused on cross-sector technologies for industrial decarbonization. Applications are due March 20. Learn more here.
The Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes, and Energy (EGLE) has several open grant applications related to energy efficiency for businesses, local governments, tribal governments and farmers, as well as support for public, private, or nonprofit entities for deploying publicly available fast-charging electric vehicle stations along the Lake Michigan Circuit. These applications have various deadlines from January to March of 2024. Find more information here.